Dental-floss holder



0. 0'. MARTIN.

DENTAL Floss HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 22, 1920.

1 ,389,064, Patented Aug. 30, 1921.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.l f

OLIVER 0. MARTIN, `OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DENTAL-Pross HOLDER.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it knownlthat I, OLIVER O. MARTIN, a-citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Dental-F loss Holders, of which the following is a specification'.

This invention has relation t0 a device for holding dental floss for the purpose of cleaningv the spaces between the teeth, The object of the invention yis the provision of an apparatus within which a bobbin of dental floss maybe stored, and which is pro-j i vided .with elements forholding the free end of the said Vfhisssuspen'ded in anconvenient and eective manner. A further object is to effect relative adjustment of the parts holding the floss suspended in order to maintain the floss under tension during the tooth cleaning operation. The additional objects of the invention and its advantageous and important features are hereinafter fully described and illustrated in the appended drawing, of which:

figure 1 is a cross sectional side elevation of a device embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is a similar View of a slightly modi`r fied structure, v

Fig. 3 illustrates the adjustable floss holding element,

Fig. l shows the outer tubing of the apparatus and its means for guiding the said adjustable element,

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the fixed fioss holding element, and

Fig. 6 shows the adjustable floss holding element of Fig. 2.

The structure of Fig. 1 comprises an outer tubing 1 carrying a floss supporting element 7, an inner thimble 2 in which a bobbin 6 of dental fioss is stored, and an intermediate sleeve 3. The thimble 2 ismade with external screw threads 2, in addition to which it carries an enlarged rim 2b, forming a convenient'handle or knob for turning the thimble. The sleeve 3 is provided with in ternal screw threads 3"L engaging the threads of the thimble, and the front end of the sleeve is sufiiciently reduced to. support a slender bow 4. The latter is rigidly fixed in the sleeve by soldering, riveting or in any other suitable manner, it points down Ward, and it terminates in a sphericalliead l Specification of Letters Patent. kPatented Aug- 30, 1921. Applcationvled May 22,

1920. Serial No.y 383,490.

i 4?, which is slotted lengthwise for the pur# pose of receiving the end of the floss.v

The sleeve 3, see Fig. 3, is made with a longitudinal slit 3b, which serves a double function. In the' vfirst instance theV bobbin 6 is pushed into thethimble 2, whereupon'A the loose end of the floss is drawn from within thebobbinandplaced in the said slit. The next operation is to insert the sleeve between the tube and thimble, and this can only be accomplished when the Vparts are turned into correct alinement, in which position the slit 3b rides over the base 7a; of the floss hookv 7. It is thus seen ,that one function 5 of the' said slitV is vtoy facilitate threading ofy the free fioss end throughth'e apparatus, and thatthey second; functiony is tol prevent relative rotation ofthe sleeve in the tube. y

In the thimble, in front of the knob 2b, is a contraction 2C, into which the rear end of the outer tube 1 is drown or spun for the purpose of retaining the tube andv thimble longitudinally immovable. The hook 7 has the aforenamed base 7a positioned on the inner surface of the tube for guiding the sleeve. The body of the said hook'is made with a relative broad portion 7". The first hooks made were well rounded, and the fiosswould slip and slip no matter how tightly wound or how many turns were given around the hook, but by making it broad relative to its thickness, it holds the fioss firmly in place. On each side of the hook are ground sharp edges 7C, 'on which to cut off the end of the floss after it has been used.

The structure of Fig. 2 is similar in prin- -ciple to the one above described, and it varies in form only in minor details. Theouter tube 10 may be identical with the tube 1. The thimble 12 is in this case made with internal screw threads 12a, and the sleeve 13 carries external screw threads 13a for engagement with the former. Thus the sleeve 13 becomes the innermost tube of the apparatus, and therefore also the receptacle for the floss bobbin 14. The sleeve 13 may be slit after the manner of the sleeve 3, and for the same purpose, or it may be made with a groove 13b, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 6, in which case the end of the floss is threaded through a perforation 13a before mounting the bobbin in the said sleeve.

From the foregoing description it is seen that the principal parts of the invention are two tubular telescoping members, one holding a bobbin of floss and having one element for supporting the loose end of the said floss, and the other provided with a second element for the end of the floss. Furthermore that I provide means for adjusting the two members longitudinally, and at the same time devices Vare introduced for the lprevention of relative rotation of the said members. Imay introduce other adjusting means without thereby departing fromthe spirit vofthe invention.

I claim: y

l. In a dental floss holder three tubular members telescoping within each other and capable of'holding a bobbin of dental floss, the outer member having a fixed floss fastening clip, one of the inner members made with afixedrbow projecting in `one direction, the second inner member capable of moving the frstinner member longitudinally and provided with an operating knob proj ectingr in the opposite direction.

2. In a dental floss holder, a cover tube, a sleeve seated torevolve within said tubeJ and having a projecting knob, a thimble within the cover tube and carrying a proj ectingbow,

said sleeve capable of moving said thimble-v longitudinally, said cover maintaining said thimble unturnable,said cover made with a fixed fastening element.

3. An outer tube having a fixed fastening and cutting element, a thimble slidable with- -in said tubeand carrying a ioss fastening ing a projecting operating knob. v

5. In a dental floss holder, three itubes telescoping withinqeach ,other,:the outer tube having a fixed floss fasteningzclip, one inner tubel having a projecting bow -shapedatithe end for fastening floss, the other inner tube havingan operating knob projecting beyond the outer tube in the opposite direction for the purpose of rotating said secondinner tube and thereby advancing the first inner tube and retracting n s OLIVER o. MARTIN. 

